1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of aerosol sprays, such as are used in lubricant oils, air fresheners, hair sprays, paints, foam cleaners, and compressed air.
2. Background Information
Aerosols are an integral part of our everyday lives and are a useful way to deliver paint, insecticide, lubricant oil, air freshener, hair products, foam cleansers, perfumes, or compressed air. Aerosols typically work by delivering a liquefied propellant or a compressed gas in the form of a spray. These sprays can be composed of small, medium, or large droplets, depending upon the function of the aerosol.
The product to be delivered in the form of a spray typically travels up a “dip tube” into the “valve housing.” There is it propelled up and out through the “spray actuator” which fits onto the “valve stem” itself. A problem is commonly encountered in these systems when the product to be delivered in the form of a spray must be concentrated into a small area. This requires a nozzle to be attached to the spray actuator in order to control the stream of the spray. These nozzles are useful, indeed necessary, in certain types of aerosol applications, such as lubricant oils and compressed air, as used to clean computer keyboards and other electronics.
When using an aerosol product that requires a concentrator nozzle, manufacturers typically attach a nozzle extension to the aerosol dispenser for use by the consumer. The consumer detaches the nozzle extension and attaches it to the spray actuator of the aerosol dispenser. This works fine until time to store the aerosol product. At that time the nozzle extension is removed, or falls off, and is then very difficult, if not impossible, to find the next time the product is needed. Some consumers attempt to solve the problem by rubber-banding or taping the nozzle extension to the can itself. There is a simpler solution, and the present invention discloses it: produce a non-detachable nozzle that is an integral extension of the spray actuator.